Method of making shoes.



PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

No. 855,831. E. BAYARD.

METHOD OFMAKING SHOES,

APPLIOATION FILED OUT-8. 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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l/K/TNES'SESGLLA-LL No. 855,831. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907. E. BAYARD.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES. APPLIOATION FILED 001. a, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 855,831. PATENTEDJUNE4,1907.

B. BAYARD.

METHOD OF MAKING- SHOES. APPLICATION I'ILBD 0012a. 1906.

VWTA/ESS/SS' GRULU;

UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OF ICE.

EMERY-BAYARD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR To UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-June 4, 1907.

To all whom it concern.-

Be it known that I, Ei/rERY BAYARD, a citizen of the United States,residing' at Rochester, in .the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements inMethods of Making. Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with w the accompanying drawings, is a specifica-' tion like reference characters on the drawin gs indicating like parts in the several figures. This invention relates to the manufacture ofboots and shoes and particularly to a novel method of conforming a shoe to a last.

In fitting a shoe to its last it is important that the upper materials should be conformedaccurately to the shape of the end and side faces of the heel portion of the last. This must be effected to a large'extent by straining the upper lengthwise of the last, or from heelend toward toe end. This is necessary because there is little opportunity to strain the upper upwardly at this part of the shoe owing to the fact that the rear portion of the upper is free to move on the last when pulled in the direction of the height of the last, and

consequently such upward straining would tend to displace that portion of the upper. In making shoes it has been the practice in preparing a shoe for subsequent machine operations to 'gras the upper at the toe, pull it upwardly'over t e point of the toe of the last, and then double it back over the bottom of the last and fasten. it. As a result of this the toe of the "last are left relatively slack and the marginal portions of the upper stand away from the edge of the heelportion of the last, instead of hugging thelasti tightly as theyshould. The marginal portion of the upper at the heel of the shoe is. therefore .loose about the edge of the last when in a later operationit is bent over and secured to the innersole and 'it' is' difiieult to obtain in,

An important object of this invention is-to obtain a more perfectfitting of an upper to .the end and side faces of the heel portion of a .thailastand that if the upper'is secured to the mnerso'le at the heel of the shoe while the upper is under such lengthwise strain it will netain the shape of these faces of the last to a very'sa'tisfactory extent when the last has been withdrawn. I also find that a shoe made in this waywill hug the wearers heel so that it will not slip up and down when in use, thus overcoming an objectionable feature found in many low-cut or Oxford shoes.

In its broadest aspects the present invention consists in engaging the upper forward of its heel end, straining it lengthwise of the last; and, while the upper is under such lengthwise strain, securing the marginal portion of the upper at the heel of the shoe. In practicing thisinvention the upper may be engaged for this purpose at its forward portion by'grippers. The grippers will be actuated to strain the upper forwardly from the heel end of the last lengthwise toward the toe end on both sides of the last and cause it to conform to the shape of the end and side faces of the heel portion of the last and. to hug .closely the edge of the heel of the last. The heelstiffener, if properly tempered, will also be drawn firmly against the last, thus conformingit to the conteur of the particular last upon which the shoe is being made even if the stiffener has not been previously.

molded to that shape of last. The upper will be secured while it is under-this strain, and by so doing the edge and the heel portions of the-upper will be held in the positions to' which they have been drawn. Prior to securing the upper the lining, heel stiffener,

and upper will preferably be adjusted as may be found necessary into their proper vertical positions with relation to each other arfd to the last. While the upper is under lengthwise strain its rear portion will preferably be pressed or drawn over upon the innersole at the sides of'the heel of the last near the front ends of the heel stiffener and tacked to the innersole to secure the upper and stiffener in proper relation to the last at these points.

or the best results a tack will also be driven into the rear end of the last to secure the upper andheel stiffener t0 the last at that point.

last than has previously been Obtained. I 5 This tack prevents any vertical displaceupper lengthwise of the last it can be made to l ment of the upper materials on the heel end v of the last and it may advantageously pass fit the end and side faces of the heel portion of I through the heel stiffener near; -the upper "'ener prevents the stifieher from springing away from the last when the lengthwise strain'on the upper has been discontinued;

In most kinds of work the'up er and stiffener will also preferably .be force over the innersole at the rearendofthe shoe and tacked to the inner-sole atftliatpoint as'usual. ll desired, the upper may be pressed or drawn over the innersole--. and secured at .other points about the heel and thus the heel of the shoe may be more or less completely lasted while the upper still" held under lengthwise strain. It is preferable to pull the up- "per in a vertical plane wln'ch liesin or is approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the last and. which is' so predetermined that it will not be afiected by variations in the relative elasticity of the upper at the two Pulling the upper lengthsides of the shoe. wise of the last as described draws the upper forwardly over the inclined instep portion of the last, causing it to fit approximately this face of the last, and this effect isincreased by pulling the upper slightly upwardly as it is strained forwardly.

One of the advantages gained by pulling the upper lengthwise as described, is that some of the stretch is taken out of the upper and in particular the upper is stretched longitudinally so that it is unnecessary to out the upper as long as would otherwise be reaixuired, thus effecting a saving in upper stock. hile it is preierable to strain the upper slightly upwardly as stated, it is important that the upper be not bent upwardly over the toe of the last to any extent that would substantially relax the tension on the edge of the upper at the rear part of the shoe before the upper is secured. For the best results the grippers or other pulling means will be broad enough .to engage a sutlicient shoe.

width of the upper to insure that the side portions of the upper shall be well strained lengthwise as Welles the portion of the upper along the median line of the shoe.

- The upper may be pulled with relation to a gage and stretchedlengthwise tolocate the toe tip seam or other part in desired relation to the last. Preferably when this is to be done the upper willbe pulled with relation to a gage or. gages located on eachside of the The position of the seam upon the gage will be observed after it is pulled and it the seam is not in correct position as, for

example, if it is drawn too far ahead or not creased to stretch the upper more.

far enoughthe strain. will be decreased to allow the upper-to contract or will be inlif the seam does not extend straight across the shoe, or in other desired direction, lasindi cated. by the fact that one end of the seam is farther ahead on the gage than the other,

seaesi then the upper may be shifted longitudinally about the last by turning the last about its pivotal support on the usual heel pin; or, if necessary, the pulling means will be released and re-engaged with the upper at a different place for applying different relative longi tudinal strains to the two sides of the upper for straightening the seam.

A further advantage resulting from strain ing the upper lengthwise as described is that the lining is straightened out and freed from wrinkles so that-there less danger of a wrinkle being worked into the lining of the lasted shoe.

The invention willbe more fully explained in the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one form of apparatus, by the aid of which the invention may be practiced.

'That apparatus is not herein claimed, as it forms the subject-matter of my pending applicaton Serial No. 317,257, filed May 1 7, 1906. l

Figure l is a side elevation'of the apparatus, showing a shoe in position to be operated u pon,'the fore part of the upper being engaged by the grippers preparatory to pulling it lengthwise. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shoe shown in Fig. 1. Fig. '3 is a side elevation of the shoe when it has been pulled, the arrows indicating approximately the lines in which the'strain has taken effect on the upper. Fig. 4. is a plan view of the shoe shown in Fig. 3; Fig.5 is a perspective view of the shoe after the upper has been se' and secured. at these points while held under len thwise strain.

'llhe apparatus herein shown. for use in practicing my novelinethod comprises a standard 2 having a heel pin l to receive the last, and a forwardly pro ecting arm 6 in which the grippers are movable along a path which extends lengthwise of the last. The grippers. comprise a member 8 Which slides upon the arm 6, said member being provided with guides 10 and 12 above andbelow the arm. r A. co-operating gripper member 14 is pivoted at 15 to the member 8 and a chain 11 extends from the lower end of the member 14 over a pulley 16 on a downward extension of the guide 12 and-from thence upwardly over a pulley 18 on the guide 10. From pulley 18 the chain passes rearwardly and downwardly over a pulley 20 on the end of the arm 6 to a toot treadlelZZ which is pivoted to the stand and 2 and. has a pawl 23 to .eoeoperatp with a plull the upper lengthwise of the last from the eel end thereof forwardly, and preferably, slightly upwardly. A-gage may be applied at either "side of,the arm 6 if desired, as shown in Fig.

6. The'graduations on the gage indicate the position of the toe tip seam and enable the operator to see if the seam extends in the desired-direction-across the toe of the last. In practicing the invention with the ap aratus shown,. the upper materials, with t e heel stiffener in osition' between the lining and the upper,- desired, may be placed over the jheel-pln 4and the toe of the upper inserted The treadle will thenbetween the grippers. be depressed and the grip 'ers thereby closed and. then moved; outward y onthe arm6 to straighten and hold the upper. A last with an innersole or sole applied to its bottom face will next be inserted in the upper and placed over the heel pin, the upper being relatively adjusted vertically to cause its marginal portion to project the desired distan'ce above the last bottom. The .heel stiffener may also be putinto osition at this time, if desired, in-

stead of efore the upper isapplied to the machine. It will of course be'understood that the particular manner of assembling the .lengthwise-is not important and may be left' upper materials and placing them and the last in position for the upper to be strained to the preference of each operator. The partshaving been put into positions as described, movement of the grippers outwardly on the arm 6 will cause the .upper to be strained and stretched lengthwise of the last in a substantially right line. For the best results the upper should not be drawn into contact Withthe top face of the toe of the last to anextent that'would substantially relax the tension on the marginal edge of the upper at the heel end of the last. The effect of this lengthwise straining is to draw the rear por-v tion of the upper against the end and side faces of the heel, causing it to conform to the shape of the heel portion of the last from the edge-of the last downwardly toward the cone of the last. The heel stiffener will also be shaped-into close conformity with the contour of'the last-by the pressure of the upper about it. The arm 6 is preferably arranged to guide the grippers in a path which lies approximately in a plane extending vertically through or substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the last by which is -meant the axis extending from the extreme heel end to the extreme toe end of the last.- 7 Preferably. the grippers are moved for straining: the upper lengthwise in a path the direction of which is not affected by variations in the elasticityof the two, sides of the upper. In the a paratus shown the vertical plane in which 't 1e path is located is determined by the guide slot in the arm 6. This insures that the up er shall be pulled straight ahead and throug the same istanee at both sides. of the shoe so that the tip seam will not be drawn farther forward on one side than on the other if the upper is more-elastic on one of its sides than. on the other as is frequently 1 the case.

As herein shown the upper is pulled slightly upwardly as it is pulled forvfardly, the arm 6- of the illustrated apparatus being inclined as shown in Fig. 1: By thi; arrangement the upper, having been positioned vertically with relation ;to the. heel of the last, is first drawn into engagement with the last near its upper edge, and the area of firm engagement s reads downwardly along the rear end of the ast as the grippers move forwardly and upwardly. Pulling the upper in this direction also permits it to be drawn over the inclined face of the instep of the last with the least friction,

while greater friction holds the upper-against reverse movement by reason of its contraction after the securing tacks have been driven and the grippers released.

It is preferable that the gripping jaws be wide enough, as shown for example, to engage a considerable portion of the upper and exert a pull on the sides of the vamp rather than that they be so narrow that the strain would be directed largely to the upper in the median line of the shoe.

When the upper has been sufficiently 'pulled to cause it to fit the heel portion of the too as't snugly and has been longitudinally stretched to the desired extent the pawl 23 will be engaged with the ratchet 24 by a sidewise movement of the foot treadle 22, thus locking the grippers and holding theupper under lengthw se strain, as shown in Figs. 3

and 4:. The operator may observe the position of the toe tip seam at the two sides of the shoe and, if necessary, he will manipulate the grippers to. move the seam forwardly or backwardly, or will turn the. last about the heel pin .to change the relative strain on the twosides of the upper for straightening the seam. In some instances it may be necessary to release the grippers and re-engage them at a different point in order to, draw the tip straight on the last. If the gage 30 is used as shown in Fig.6 the correct position of the-seam mav be ascertained by its relation to the gagc. While the upper is held ally necessary to adjust the ends of thestifftending engthwise in it.

ener vertically, particularly if a straight or fiangeless stiffener is used to cause the break flange ofthe stiffener and the lining are then forced over the last bottom at each side of l the shoe and all secured to the innersole by tacks, as 25, whichare driven fully into the stock wherethey may form a part of themeans for permanently fastening together the parts of the shoe. it is desirable also to drive a tack 26 into the rear end of the shoe as shown in Fig. 7, where it will pass through the heel stiffener near its upper edge. T his tack holds the parts of the upper from Inovi-ng vertically on the heel endof the last and it also preventsthe stiffener from springing away from the last when the grippersare disengaged from the upper or when the stiffener dries. In most kinds of work the upper materials will also preferably be forced over the rear end of the innersole and secured thereto by a tack 27 as shown in Fig. 5 while the upper is still under lengthwisestrain.

It will be observed by comparing Figs. 3

' and 4 with Figs. 1 and 2 that while portions of the upper below the bottom of the inverted. last are stretched and causedto con form to the contour of the heel portion ofthe last thrpughout its height, the marginal portion of the upper extending above the lastbottom is stretched less than'the other portion and is caused to lieover the edge ofthe last where it may be very readily bent down upon the last bottom in position to be secured. The marginalportion of the upper at the heel thus presents a minimum of 1 llness to be taken care of in'forcing it into-lasted position upon the heel seat end of the inner.- sole so that a smoother heel seat may be produced in the lasted shoe than if themarginal portion of the upper were loose about the edge of the last. While I have shown in Fig. 5 one tack, 25, located in each sideoi the heel at the forward portion of the heel stiffener it is of course within the invention to insert any desired number of tacks or. other securing devices for fastening the upperiwhile it is ield under lengthwise strain. The upper might, if desired, be turned down upon the innersole and secured around the entire heel portion ofthe shoe bottom. per has been secured the treadle of the ma chine will be disengagedi'rorn the ratchet 24 and the grippers permitted to slide back: wardly on the arm 6 to release the upper.

I It is found in practice that by straining the upper lengthwise of the last as described the stretch is taken out of the upper more or less, which isdesirabl'e. One advantage resulting from thus stretching an upper lengthwise is that it is practical to cutuppers somewhat shorter than when the shoes are made {as The upper, the

When the upr herelliofore, thus effecting! a saving in upper stcc. Itwill be understood that my-novel method is not limitedto practice by means of the 8,1):- paratus herein shown and described, as that apparatus is illustrated and its use is described. merely for the purposeof showingone way in which the method may bepracticed. The invention is, of course, not" limited to any apparatus and the performance of the succession. of steps in which my improved;

method consists is within mydnvention in whatsoever manner. or by whatsoever. means those steps maybe performed. i

Having explained the nature of this inyention and fully described how it may be-prace ticed, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The method of making shoes which consists in engaging the forward-portion of-an upper, pulling it lengthwise of a last and holding it-undcr lengthwise strain; and adjusting and securing parts of the shoe atthe heel end of the last while the upper is so-held M under lengthwise strain. a 4

2. The ineth d oirnaking shoes which consists in straining an upper in a lengthwise direction'along a last in a substantially right line, and securing parts ofthe upper at the heel end of the last while the upper is held under such lengthwise strain. i 3 i 3. The method ofrnal 'ng shoes which'consists in straining an upperforwardlyto? conform its rear portion to the endandside faces and the edge of the heel portion-eta last, and securing the rear portion of -the upperat the sides of the heel while the upper is held under such strain.

4, The method of makingshoes Whichconsistsin engaging the" forward portion of the upper, pulling theupper forwardly and there- 1 by straining it length wise ofthe last, holding,

the upper withit'smarginal portion under lengthwise strain,.and bending the -edge of the rear portion of the up er'over the lastbottom and securing it w held under such strain.

5. The method of making shoes which cone I I0 He the. upper is sists in engaging thetoe portion of the 11 per,

pulling the upper lengthwise of the last, olding it with its marginal-portion underlengthwise strain, and lasting the heel portion of the shoe while th'e'upper isunder such strain.

6., The method of making shoes whichconsists in applying jannpper'to a last, straining the upper vforwardly along the edge of the. last and upwardlyalong the instep of the last, forcing the upper inwardly over, t ieinnersole at the sides of the heel, and securing the u perto the innersole whilethe upper is so he d under strain.

' i The method of making shoes which con sists in positioning an upper on a last, engag mg the fore part of the upper, nlling the upper lengthwise of the last and upwardly but without bending it over the toe of the last, and securing the upper at the heel end of the last while it is held under such lengthwise strain.

. =8. The method of making shoes which consists in engaging the forward portion of an upper; pulling it lengthwise of a last; securing parts of the shoe at the heel end of the last while the upper is held under suchlengthwise strain; and then releasing the forward portion of the upper.

J. The method of making shoes which consists in straining an upper lengthwise, of a last, and securing the upper and heel stiffener to the innersole at the sides of the heel portion of the last and also fastening the upper and stitl'ener to the rear end face of the last while the upper is held under such lengthwise strain.

10. The method of making shoes which consists in engaging the forward portion of an upper and pulling it lengthwise of a last, relatively moving the last and upper to adjust the upper longitudinally about the last, and securing the upper at opposite sides of the heel of the last while the upper is held under such lengthwise strain.

11. The method of making shoes whichconsists in engaging the forward portion of an upper and pulling it lengthwise of a last, positioning the toe tip seam with relation to a gage and securing the upper at the heel end of the last while the upper is held under such lengthwise strain.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMERY BAYARD.

Witnesses THOMAS PIERCE, RICHARD J. ONEILL. 

